Just the FAQs

Browse common questions and answers.

▸ General / Specs / Pre-Sales

Is MegaSeg compatible with OS X Yosemite‎ 10.10?

Yes! MegaSeg 5 works with Yosemite‎, as well as older versions of Mac OS X going back to 10.6. (Make sure you have the latest version of MegaSeg 5 by using the “Check For Updates” command in MegaSeg’s Help menu.)

Version 4.5.1 and older does not support OS X Lion 10.7 and newer. Please upgrade to MegaSeg 5 for compatibility, and then check out the Version History page to catch up with all the new features and improvements in MegaSeg 5!

If you use 3rd-party peripherals such as MIDI controllers or external audio interfaces, you may need to install new drivers or firmware updates for compatibility with the latest OS X. As with any major system upgrade, it’s wise to proceed with caution if you are using your system in a “mission critical” situation. For example, you might install the OS X upgrade on an external drive to test it out before you upgrade your Mac’s main drive.

What are the system requirements and compatible Mac models?

MegaSeg runs great on any stock Mac that Apple sells today, including the MacBook Air and Mac Mini. The oldest Macs currently supported require Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” or better with an Intel processor.

Is there a manual, user’s guide, or tutorial for MegaSeg?

Yes there is a complete user’s guide available in the Help menu while MegaSeg is running.

If I lose the program, can I reinstall without paying again?

Absolutely. After purchase you’ll receive an email receipt with your download link and serial for safekeeping. Even if you lose that, our recovery system will get back up and running fast. Or simply contact us and we’ll be glad to help.

I lost my registration serial number. How can I retrieve it?

No problem! Use our recovery system to retrieve your serial, or contact us with your information and we'll look it up for you.

How much are upgrades?

Updates are free (version 5.0 to 5.1 for example). Major version upgrades (x.0 or x.5) will be a fraction of the full price. See our order page for current pricing.

Can I upgrade the DJ edition to MegaSeg Pro?

Yes you can upgrade to MegaSeg Pro from both our direct and Mac App Store versions of MegaSeg DJ. Click the “Upgrades” tab at the top of our order form and select the “Upgrade DJ to Pro” option.

Is the software available on CD‐ROM?

MegaSeg is only available online via our site (the DJ edition is also available via the
Mac App Store,
if you prefer.) You can backup the download file to a CD-ROM or flash drive. If you ever lose your copy of MegaSeg, just contact us for a replacement download.

What’s that? You really, really need a physical copy (as a gift for example)? Hmm, OK well let us know and we’ll fix something up nice up for you!

How reliable are computers compared to CD players? What if it crashes?

We’ve had wonderful success with the stability of MegaSeg and Mac OS X. Thousands of DJ’s and radio stations use MegaSeg worldwide without fail. It’s always a good idea to have a safety net just in case, and keep a backup drive or iPod with your music handy. (You can even install OS X and MegaSeg on your backup and boot from it directly.)

Do you make a PC version of MegaSeg?

Sorry, not at this time. MegaSeg’s stability and reliability builds off of Mac OS X (and its solid UNIX foundation). Since Apple makes both the hardware and OS, everything runs smoothly (a difficult task on Windows due to the magnitude of hardware combinations!) This allows us to make better software for you, with fewer tech support distractions.

Macs are also replaced less often, staying in operation years longer than most PCs. Fewer tech issues and longer use — That’s money saved.

Also consider today’s Macs can boot Windows if needed. So when you get a Mac, you’ll have the best of both worlds. (With Parallels or Fusion, you can even run both at the same time!)

Check out the Mac Mini which runs MegaSeg perfectly for just $499. You can even connect it to your existing PC monitor and keyboard, or run it as a virtual system via VNC screen sharing. Plus it doubles as a cute little coffee cup warmer.*

*Joking… Not responsible for spilled coffee! ;-)

I love MegaSeg, do you have a badge for my site?

Thanks, we love you too! You can copy one of the HTML codes below to paste a badge into your site.

Can MegaSeg stream to the Internet for an online radio station or webcast?

Yes. MegaSeg handles the automation and scheduling for your online station and then you encode its audio output for streaming on the same Mac using any of several encoder options (including MP3, HE-AAC, and OGG codecs via SHOUTcast or Icecast servers) such as:

Soundflower is a recommended free audio routing app that allows you to send MegaSeg’s audio directly into the encoder of your choice. Once installed, restart MegaSeg and open its Settings > Devices tab, and select “Soundflower (2ch)” as the Playlist Output. Then in the encoder, select “Soundflower (2ch)” as its input device. You now have a direct audio connection between MegaSeg and the encoder.

Also note if you use the Nicecast encoder, while it offers a nice feature to select MegaSeg as the audio source directly, using Soundflower (or a mixer as mentioned below) can give you some additional flexibility.

If you have a physical mixer, you can alternatively route MegaSeg’s audio to the mixer and then take the mixer’s master output back into the Mac for the encoder. (Take care to prevent a feedback loop by either by using a second USB audio device, or muting the encoder’s monitor output if possible.)

How do I stream video to the net with MegaSeg?

You can use MegaSeg with any stream video encoder you wish by interfacing it with MegaSeg’s video and audio outputs. This can be done using either a 2nd computer for the encoder, or on the same Mac running MegaSeg.

The first option involves connecting the Mac’s HDMI video output (which MegaSeg can output full screen video to) and connect it to a video capture interface on a second Mac or PC running the video stream encoder.

The second option is to run the encoding software on the same Mac running MegaSeg, and use a free 3rd party app called CamTwist which captures MegaSeg’s video window and sends it to the encoding software as a virtual video device.

First decide what quality you want the video stream to be. In this example, we’ll use 640 x 480. Next in MegaSeg’s Video menu, choose “Fixed Size 640x480” and start playing a video. Then move the video window to a corner of the screen (or a virtual desktop “Space” using Mission Control) that you won’t obstruct with other windows.

Optional: Use Full Screen video with the Mac’s video resolution set to a lower setting you wish to capture at. For example 1280x720. Set CamTwist to capture the entire screen, or a letterbox portion. If you wish to use MegaSeg at the same time, you will need two monitors (two “desktops”). MegaSeg can be set to output video on the 2nd desktop, and CamTwist can be set to capture that 2nd desktop.

Can I specify the time a file (e.g. jingle, ad, promo, or ID) will play?

Absolutely. MegaSeg incorporates powerful Scheduler and Events features. You can create schedules (playlist “Hot Clocks” based on categories/genre) and then use the Events feature to start them at specific times, or insert promos/IDs/jingles/sweepers at certain intervals (every 3 segues, every 15 minutes, 59 past the hour, Tuesdays at 10:30 PM, etc). Please read the built-in User’s Guide in MegaSeg’s Help menu for more detailed information.

Can MegaSeg schedule commercial breaks for radio?

Yes MegaSeg includes a built-in Scheduler and Events system to automate playlists for music rotations, ad “stopsets”, promos, station IDs, etc. The category scheduling system is based on pre-shuffled “rotations” of tracks, so it allows for even rotations. That said, you can control when tracks in each category stack are reshuffled. The default is “Every 1 Rotation”, meaning all tracks play once before reshuffling. This is set in Settings > Scheduler > Category Settings.

Note that when Rules (Artist, Track & Album Separation, etc.) are enabled and set to Automatic you need to select the categories MegaSeg should ignore to prevent issues with scheduling non-music tracks (Ads, IDs, Promos, Voice-tracks, etc.) This is set in the Rules tab on the bottom right “Ignore Categories” box.

MegaSeg’s Events tab also includes the ability to Insert Playlists or Playlist “Schedules” into other Playlists or Schedules. This is how you can insert a commercial break, or tracks from a group of categories, to be scheduled into a more general music-based schedule or playlist.

For example, using the Scheduler, you could build a short 2-minute ad “stopset“ using categories in a specific order like so:

Bumpers <--e.g. “We’ll be right back after these messages”
Ads60
Ads30
Ads30
Station Promos
Jingle

...All these categories contain various production elements in them. This Schedule can then be saved as a file named “Stopset A” for example. Then in the Events list you would simply insert this into the main music playlist or schedule via a single event that triggers every hour at a certain time:

:23 past the hour Insert Playlist: Stopset A

(Of course there are many more trigger types available.)

Once this Event triggers, tracks from Stopset A’s categories will be inserted into the active playlist queue. Once the last inserted track ends, it continues with the original playlist.

Above is just a simple example. You can of course use many more categories to control the rotation speed of your ads. For instance, with two categories such as “Ads60-Fast” and “Ads60-Slow”, depending on how many ads you put in each category, and how often you schedule said categories, you can control how often each ad plays.

Also note you can generate a report of every time a particular ad played using the File > Show History menu command. Then even print this report with File > Print (Command-P) and save as a PDF.

How do I send the current song info to TuneIn.com and other services?

To send metadata to TuneIn, open MegaSeg’s Preferences window and select the Logs tab, then click to enable the “Send To Server” checkbox and choose “HTTP” and “Get” in the popup menus to the right.

In the above URL, simply replace “[ID]” (including the brackets) with your TuneIn PartnerID, “[KEY]” with your PartnerKey, and “[SID]” with your StationID.

And that’s pretty much it! However for commercial stations, you might include one extra bit at the end:

&commercial=%RecordID%

...Then tag your commercials in MegaSeg’s Edit window > Additional tab > Record ID field with the text “true”. (Note, you can perform a multi-select edit to assign this tag to all commercials at once.)

To send metadata to other services that accept HTTP Get or Post updates, you can apply the same concepts above, or use some built-in example presets in the popup menus for Shoutcast and Icecast servers, or even upload directly to your website via FTP.

We would like our iTunes library on a separate server. Does the server need MegaSeg installed?

No it’s not required to have MegaSeg installed on the server. All MegaSeg workstations can access the iTunes media files via File Sharing.

However, we do recommend the “server” be the same computer MegaSeg is used for the primary on-air studio. (In other words, the on-air workstation is also the server.) This allows the most critical MegaSeg system to have direct access to media files without needing to be served over a potentially slow or troublesome network. All other systems (production room, program director, etc.) can then access MegaSeg’s library and media files remotely via the “on-air server”.

While there’s no need to use iTunes at all, if you wish to use iTunes for the core media library, you still can with the above approach (i.e. both iTunes and MegaSeg running on the on-air system). The MegaSeg User’s Guide (available in the Help menu when running) has additional information on the network syncing features.

Can MegaSeg interface with a satellite receiver to automate radio programming?

Yes, there are two primary methods to use a satellite receiver with MegaSeg and respond to contact closures for commercials:

Audio Play-Thru Control

The play-thru control option is the simplest if all you need to do is cut the satellite audio, play commercials, and return. This works by routing the receiver’s audio into the Mac’s audio input (or a 3rd party USB/Firewire audio device) and set MegaSeg’s “Mic Input” to that device. Then in MegaSeg’s Events tab, setup a trigger to turn the “Mic play-thru” off in combo with an event to start the commercials.

For example, here’s an Event List to play a commercial break at :20 past every hour, then return to satellite:

:20 past the hour

Mic Play-Thru: Off and Stop Playlist

:20 past the hour

Open Playlist: Stopset A

When playlist ends

Mic Play-Thru: On and Stop Playlist

The “Stopset A” playlist can actually be a Playlist Schedule which includes category rotations of spots, or just a single track. For example, in the Scheduler tab, you can setup “Stopset A” to have this structure:

Bumper IDs

Spots-60

Spots-30

Bumper Promos

break

The “Bumper IDs” and “Bumper Promos” categories can contain a variety of IDs and Promos that rotate each time the stopset plays.

Note the “Break” track at the end is important to allow the last item to play entirely before the “When playlist ends” event triggers to turn the audio play-thru back on.

Contact Closures & Relays

MegaSeg can interface with various I/O devices using a special event called “Insert Break (serial trigger)” which can be configured to send and/or wait for any serial command string. Using a USB-to-RS232 serial cable, MegaSeg can communicate with any RS-232 compatible device.

If your satellite receiver has a built-in RS-232 port, it may be possible to directly control it instead of using a relay box by configuring the text strings MegaSeg sends or receives. Otherwise, we have configured the default settings to work with the SRC-2 from Broadcast Tools, a two relay and contact closer box for about $150. (Scroll to the middle of the list.)

Here’s an Events List example:

When playlist ends

Insert Break Serial

Interrupt Checked

When playlist ends

Open Playlist: Stopset A

In the Insert Break Serial event dialog, there will be options to set the serial port baud, bits, etc, as well as a “Send on Break” text string (the data it sends to the RS-232 device to trigger a relay). The last block is what is it listens for to continue (the data it receives from the SRC-2 on closure, and then advances past the “break track”). Note we have it set by default to pulse the relay, and wait for a closure to continue. Also note in this example, you need to include a “Break Track” at the end of the “Stopset A” schedule or playlist.

MegaSeg is also compatible with a HID device called the USB Trigger from Sensorium. This is listed on our Controller’s page. This is an input-only device (no relays), and when used in combination with USB Overdrive can be configured to trigger any of MegaSeg’s menu commands or keyboard shortcuts.

Is MegaSeg compliant with music licensing laws?

As far as music licensing goes, MegaSeg is simply a playback tool, similar to a CD player and mixer. Using iTunes you can transfer your CD’s to your computer and then import and play them in MegaSeg. Transferring your own CD’s to your hard drive is like making a backup copy of a software program. If you get rid of your original CD, you are required to delete the backup copy too.

Another example is when you make a mix CD of your favorite songs from your own CD’s to play in the car. It’s for your own use, and just the same, the sound files extracted from your CD’s are personal copies of the music you already own.

However, when it comes to public performance rights, each individual venue or station you perform at should be ASCAP and BMI licensed, which would cover the music you play from their catalogs. Some streaming providers also handle licensing via an “umbrella” plan, meaning all broadcasters that use the service are automatically licensed as long as you follow their streaming rules.

MegaSeg includes many presets already setup for many popular controllers, and all MIDI controllers can interface with MegaSeg using the MIDI Learn Mode. Simply choose “New Preset”, select a relevant function in the control list, press the button or knob on the controller to connect it, and toggle out of the Learn Mode to try it out. If you make a preset for a new controller, or need any help doing so, please let us know.

Are there wireless remotes I can use to control MegaSeg?

Yes, there are various options available including RF (radio) and IR (infra‐red) remotes listed on our Controllers page. MegaSeg is compatible with any remote that sends “media key” commands, as well as “Keynote Shortcuts” (enable this mode by selecting the "Use Keynote Shortcuts" command in the Playback menu.) MegaSeg also works with the
Apple Remote
that comes with some Macs, the Apple TV, or available separately.

What features does the Apple Remote provide within MegaSeg?

The Apple Remote’s center button segues into the next track; Play/Pause pauses the track with an optional spin-down effect. Holding Play/Pause down for one second will stop the current track and playlist. The + and - buttons adjusts the volume. The FF/REW buttons adjusts the Cue Position so you can repeat or skip tracks in your playlist queue. Holding down FF/REW buttons fast forwards or rewinds the current track. The Menu button toggles AutoSeg mode for continuous playback.

Note you must launch iTunes before MegaSeg in order for the remote to function correctly with MegaSeg (you can quit iTunes once you’ve launched MegaSeg).

Summary:
Center button = Segue to next song
Play/Pause = Pause with optional “spin down” effect (option in the General tab)
Play Held Down = Stop Track and Playlist
Left/Right = Playlist Cue Position
Left/Right Held Down = FF/REW current track
Up/Down = Volume
Menu = AutoSeg toggle on/off

Note: Launch iTunes prior to MegaSeg for a proper ‘lock’ on remote.

How can I stop iTunes from launching and playing when using the Apple Remote with MegaSeg?

For MegaSeg to gain an “exclusive lock” on the remote, iTunes must be open prior to launching MegaSeg. Apple changed something along the way that causes the request for exclusive mode to not be respected unless iTunes is already open. Once iTunes and MegaSeg are launched in that order, you can quit iTunes, and it won’t auto-launch again while using the remote with MegaSeg.

Can I control MegaSeg over the internet from another computer?

Yes! There are several options available for remote access of MegaSeg and your Mac. Some popular options include:

Apple’s own “Back to My Mac” feature that is free and part of iCloud and Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8). This is enabled in the System Preferences > iCloud.

Using the Mac’s Screen Sharing feature (available in all versions of OS X via System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing checkbox) — This requires setting up your router’s port forwarding to access outside of your LAN, unlike “Back to My Mac”). This option is also compatible with various free VNC clients on all platforms (Mac, PC, etc.)

Using Apple’s Remote Management feature (available in all versions of OS X via System Preferences > Sharing > Remote Management checkbox) which works with Apple’s “Remote Desktop” app. However this is generally overkill for basic access (it’s designed to administer a classroom of Macs, a computer lab, or large company.)

Air Display is a great app that turns your iPad into a wireless touch-screen monitor for MegaSeg via WiFi.

▸ Video Outputs / Playback

Will videos purchased from iTunes work with MegaSeg?

Yes all newly purchased iTunes music videos will play in MegaSeg. However while MegaSeg has always been able to play older DRM copy-protected audio files, some older iTunes videos purchased prior to 2009 may not play. Apple has since removed all DRM copy‐protection from audio and music video content in 2009.

If you have previously purchased a protected DRM music video, Apple gives you two possible ways to upgrade it to iTunes Plus (DRM‐free). First using the new iCloud service in iTunes, you can see all previously purchased tracks and re-download a fresh copy of any track. This may render a new DRM-free copy at no cost. The other option is via the iTunes Match service which for a low flat rate will upgrade everything in your library to new DRM-free copies, including any tracks you may ripped yourself from CD at a lower quality (up to 25,000 tracks).

Again, while it is not necessary to upgrade any of your older audio DRM tracks since they will continue to play in MegaSeg fine as is, the iTunes Plus format does double the bit rate to 256 kbps.

How do I get my DVD music videos into MegaSeg?

There are several programs to convert DVD music videos for playback in MegaSeg. A free program called Handbrake does both DVD extraction and encoding into MPEG‐4 (mp4) format. Another free program called MPEG StreamClip can convert extracted VOB files from DVD into either an MPEG‐4 or a QuickTime movie. However, to use MPEG StreamClip, you will need to buy Apple’s MPEG‐2 Playback Plug‐in for QuickTime ($20 from the Apple Store). MPEG Stream Clip + Apple MPEG Plugin duo allows you to choose from more export options.

There are also some commercial apps for both extracting and converting DVDs with more options. These include RipIt, Cinematize and DVDxDV. With Cinematize it’s possible to extract the raw MPEG‐2 DVD video and encapsulate it into a QuickTime movie file (.mov) that will play in MegaSeg. This bypasses the conversion step to MP4 (MPEG‐4 codec) that Handbrake does, allowing you to play the video in its native MPEG‐2 format without re-compression (no loss of quality). However you will find that Handbrake’s video looks nearly identical to the original DVD quality at a much smaller file size. If you wish to use the MPEG‐2 method, it also requires the MPEG‐2 Playback Plug‐in from Apple (see link above). Once that is installed, here are settings for Cinematize:

Cinematize Settings for Native MPEG‐2 QuickTime Output

First select the DVD disc, and then the Video Title Set, then click Select VTS. In the Segment tab select the appropriate Title (containing the chapters for individual music videos; not necessarily Title 1). Then select the chapter (video track) you want to import...

Video tab

Video Stream: Main Video Stream

Decoding: MPEG‐2 Program Stream

Audio tab

Default settings are fine

Output tab

Save Chapters: Together As One Segment (will combine multiple chapters into one file)

Save QuickTime As: Self‐Contained, Files With All Data

Output Format: QuickTime File

Note, unless you have Apple’s MPEG‐2 Plug‐in installed, the QuickTime output options will be grayed out. You can then only export to MPEG‐4 (.mp4) format, same as using Handbrake.

You can also create a native MPEG‐2 QuickTime file using MPEG Stream Clip (with many more steps.) Once you get the video in MPEG Stream Clip, export using the Demux video and audio to AIFF option. You then end up with two files (both should have the same name, with different extensions). QuickTime then syncs the audio and video files together when you open the video file. You can then use QuickTime Player to save them together as a Self Contained Movie, and delete the two source files.

What are the best video settings? How do I output videos without showing on the Mac’s screen?

First open the Mac’s System Preferences from the Apple menu, click on Displays, and uncheck the Mirroring option. This will give you two discrete desktops, the main desktop with the menu bar on your computer’s screen, and another secondary desktop that can be used for MegaSeg’s video playback. Note, you can also turn the Mirroring option on and off from the menu bar if you enable the “Show Displays in Menu Bar” option.

Next, if you are running OS X 10.9+ you will need to disable the showing of the Menu Bar across the top of every screen (including the video output). You can do this in the System Preferences under the Mission Control settings, hidden away oddly as an option called "Displays have separate Spaces", instead of being located in the Displays preferences as you might expect. (Apple may change this in future OS X updates.)

Back in MegaSeg, when you select the Video menu’s Full Screen menu option (“letterbox” mode recommended), MegaSeg will automatically detect if you have a 2nd display connected and show the video full screen on that display (or video output). If you have more than two video screens connected, you can select the screen by setting MegaSeg’s Video window to Normal Size, and drag the video window to the display, and then select the Full Screen video option.

The video resolution of the 2nd display (video projector, HD monitor, etc.) can be adjusted using the settings that appear directly on that display when the Mac’s System Preferences > Displays settings are open. If you can’t see the 2nd monitor to make adjustments, there is a button on your main screen’s display settings called “Gather Windows” that will move the 2nd display’s settings window to your main screen.

We currently recommend the resolution setting for the 2nd display be set to 1280x720 resolution maximum (for 16:9 wide screens) or 1024x768 (for 4:3 screens), as well as use the default “letterbox” Full Screen option in MegaSeg’s Video menu for best results and performance.

On OS X 10.9+ how do I hide the menu bar from showing on my video output?

Newer versions of OS X added better support for multiple displays by allowing all Mission Control “Spaces” to be accessible from every display. However this also puts a menu bar across the top of all displays. In order to resolve this, open the System Preferences from the Apple menu, then under the Mission Control settings, uncheck the "Displays have separate Spaces" option, and you’re good to go!

Can I use AirPlay with Apple’s Airport Express or AppleTV for remote speakers or preview?

Yes! In OS X 10.8+ there’s an “AirPlay” output device you can select in MegaSeg’s Device settings for preview or main playlist output. For Mac’s running OS X 10.7 or older, you can use a program called AirFoil from Rogue Amoeba, to send MegaSeg’s audio to any AirPlay compatible device, such as the Airport Express.

How do I hook my Mac into an amp or PA?

You’ll need to pick up an “1/8 inch stereo to RCA audio cable” from your local stereo store. If you experience a hum or buzz in the audio, Radio Shack sells an audio cable “ground loop isolator” which help eliminate the hum caused by pesky ground loops. You should only need this if you hear a hum or buzz using a standard cable.

You’ll need to use a second sound output, such as the inexpensive Griffin USB audio adaptor. MegaSeg has two ways of using the second output for cue and preview...

Using one output as “Program” and the other output as “Cue”. Either the built‐in output or the iMic can be used as the main “Program” output; use the other output for your headphones. This method works great for basic Previewing and Cueing, and is the default setting.

Select MegaSeg’s “Discrete Output Mode” in the Output Settings window (in Preferences) to use both outputs as “Program” channels via an external mixer. This is like having two CD Players or turntables. A track stays on one sound output throughout the duration of the track. This mode works great for beat mixing.

To record MegaSeg’s audio mix, one option is to use a free utility called Soundflower, which installs a virtual audio device that can send MegaSeg’s audio to any recording program, such as Apple’s free GarageBand or QuickTime Player apps. Soundflower’s virtual output/input device will appear in MegaSeg’s Settings > Devices > Playlist Output list, as well as the input device list on the recording app. Select Soundflower in both apps and it creates a direct digital connection between the two.

Another option is to record MegaSeg’s audio using special recording apps that are designed to capture the audio directly to a file. Some example programs are:

These apps have options to record directly from any app into many audio formats, and some such as Audio Hijack also supports built-in effects and plugins (dynamic compression and EQ processing for example.) These apps even support recording the entire system’s audio rather than individual apps such as MegaSeg.

▸ Technical / Library / Metadata

How do I backup my Mac & MegaSeg?

One way is to use an external USB or FireWire hard drive, and use the new Time Machine backup feature included with your Mac. Just plug in the drive and select it in the Time Machine settings in your System Preferences. After Time Machine has finished the initial backup, it only needs to copy new or modified files each time you connect the drive.

If you are using an older version of Mac OS X, there’s other good software that can backup in a similar way to Time Machine. ChronoSync and BitTorent Sync apps can select exactly which folders you want to keep backed up. This can be useful if you’re tight on external drive space, or want to keep a “mirror copy” of your main drive rather than a Time Machine style backup. ChronoSync and BitTorent Sync can be set to backup the entire system, just your home folder, or a set of specific folders, with the ability to only copy new or modified files.

The Western Digital
4TB My Book USB external hard drive is a perfect backup option with excellent speed and plenty of room for either incremental Time Machine backups and synced mirror copies. If you have a huge library and need to store music videos as well, you might consider the
6TB or 8TB My Book Thunderbolt Duo which can also run in a 3TB or 4TB mirrored mode for additional safety when used as your primary library drive.

Finally, if you have two or more Macs you want to keep in sync for a “hot backup”, you can use the ChronoSync and BitTorent Sync apps described above to handle the syncing of files between them directly. You can connect any two Macs together using a FireWire cable (for fastest speed), and restart one of the systems. When you hear the startup chime, hold down the “T” key which will enable Target Disk Mode. This allows the Mac’s internal drive to be used as a virtual external FireWire drive for the other Mac it’s connected to. You will then see the drive appear on the desktop as an external FireWire drive. Then just use your sync app to update the entire volume, or specific music folders as described above.

Can MegaSeg play music purchased on Apple’s iTunes music store?

Yes! MegaSeg has the ability to play all songs and music videos purchased via Apple’s iTunes Store (including older DRM copy-protected audio tracks!) The iTunes Store uses a format called “AAC” (Advanced Audio Coding) which is a standard audio compression (codec) for MPEG‐4 (the files with an .mp4, .m4p, and .m4a extension). Learn more about the
iTunes Music Store,
and how to buy your music online, ready for MegaSeg mixing.

Yes, MegaSeg supports all popular formats natively including MP3, MP4 (MPEG-4), AIFF, WAV, and anything QuickTime can play. Plus you can add many additional audio and video codecs with free plug‐ins.

First up is Perian which adds support for various codecs including DivX, 3ivX, FLV1, FSV1, VP6, VP3, HuffYUV, ffvhuff, MPEG‐2, FRAPS, Windows Media Audio v1 & v2, Flash ADPCM, Xiph Vorbis, libavformat, AVI, FLV, MKV, and AC3 audio. (Note while Perian is no longer updated, it still works great!)

Next is XiphQT which adds support for FLAC and Vorbis audio (Perian supports Ogg Vorbis as well). However to support .flac files (rather than just .ogg containers), you’ll also need to download the FLAC Importer, and move the "FLACImport.component" file into the same /Library/Components/ folder as the XiphQT component file. (Note while the instructions mentions the /Library/QuickTime/ folder, we found the /Library/Components/ folder works fine.)

How can I update the MegaSeg library when I change a track’s metadata in iTunes?

Make sure you are viewing all songs you want to update in the Library view (selecting “All Categories” will display all songs imported), then go to File > Library Tools > Import ID3/AAC Tags. Then select the fields you wish to update and click Process. This will take several minutes depending on the size of your library. (Note the ‘time’ field takes the longest to process, as is unchecked by default.)

Can I have my own music categories or genres?

Yes. MegaSeg allows you to customize your categories. You can even put a song into multiple categories. This is available by clicking the Set button next to the Category field in the Edit Media dialog (or File > Edit Media menu).

How do I use a microphone with MegaSeg?

MegaSeg Pro includes a Mic On/Off button which automatically attenuates the master music volume, and enables software play‐thru from any audio input to the audio output device you select in MegaSeg’s preferences. For example, you could use the built‐in microphone and have MegaSeg send the audio to an external USB audio output, or the built‐in speakers.

Can MegaSeg beat mix between songs?

Yes! MegaSeg has many beat mixing features, including a wave viewer for visual mixing and syncing beats, support for multiple sound outputs for preview and cue, multi-touch trackpad control, as well as full MIDI controller support. In MegaSeg DJ the Mixer is always visible, where in MegaSeg Pro you can optionally hide the Mixer view — Click the Mixer button to the right of the Playlist to toggle the full mixing controls. Read more about output options, as well as examples of MIDI controllers.

What is the maximum number of songs MegaSeg can handle?

There’s no set limit to the library size. MegaSeg will try to handle as many files you throw at it, although there are practical limits depending on your available RAM and drive space.

Can I use an external hard drive or network server for more music?

Yes, with MegaSeg you can import files directly from any external or network drive.

Note, we normally recommend full‐size external drives instead of compact “pocket size” drives, as many smaller drives are not typically designed for heavy multimedia use (such as constant playback and mixing), and may overheat easily.

For a multi-user radio station setup using MegaSeg Pro (which can sync the library and playlists between systems, such as the on-air studio, production room, and program director's office), we generally recommend the on-air system be the primary server for the other MegaSeg systems. Reason being, this allows the most critical MegaSeg system to have direct access to the media files (without needing to be “served” over the network). All other systems (production room, program director, etc) can then access MegaSeg’s library and media files remotely via the “on-air server”.

Are small “pocket sized” hard drives fast enough for music?

Audio uses a very small amount of bandwidth and most drives will work fine. However, we normally recommend full‐size external drives instead of bus-powered “pocket size” drives, as many smaller drives are not designed for long multimedia sessions, and may overheat easily. Make sure to stress test your drive for the length of time you’ll typically use it.

Can I “consolidate” my music from multiple drives, or move from an old drive to a new one?

Yes this is possible by putting them in the exact same place on the new drive (maintaining the original path location). MegaSeg will automatically find the files on the new drive without any other prompt or action required, as long as the path has not change besides the drive name.

For example, if two songs are on two drives at the following paths:

Drive One/Apple/Banana/Grape.mp3Drive Two/Orange/Strawberry/Guava.mp3

You can move them both to a new drive here:

New Drive/Apple/Banana/Grape.mp3New Drive/Orange/Strawberry/Guava.mp3

...And MegaSeg will find everything automatically.

You can even change the path slightly by removing levels like so:

New Drive/Banana/Grape.mp3New Drive/Strawberry/Guava.mp3

You can not change the path by adding or modifying levels:

New Drive/Spinach/Banana/Grape.mp3New Drive/Mushrooms/Orange/Strawberry/Guava.mp3

After moving or consolidating files on a new drive, you should use the “Scan For Missing Files” command in the File > Library Tools menu in MegaSeg. This will update the paths in the database and confirm everything was successful. (Even if you don‘t do this, it will update paths on-the-fly as needed. It is still a good idea to do a full scan after making major changes).

Once the scan for missing files is done and reports no problems, you can move stuff around and reorganize as necessary on that drive. This is because MegaSeg tracks files and folders that get renamed or moved on a drive using a special ID. (Note this only works on Mac formatted drives. You can check the format in the Finder’s Get Info window when the drive is selected.)

Are the playback setting’s “fade-out time” saved with the song?

The Fade-Out Time is global and defaults to 3 seconds. Each song does have its own custom segue time (or end time), and allows you to override the fade‐out with the “Fade‐out Override” checkbox. You can also use the Voice-Over checkbox (which automatically enables Fade-Out Override) to make a voice track play over the intro of the next song in the playlist (and backtime into the vocal if required).

Can I change the name of audio files without problems?

Yes, MegaSeg keeps track of the files using a special tracking FileID. This means you can move or rename a file on the same drive and MegaSeg will be able to relocate it automatically. MegaSeg also keeps track of the audio files in the database by path and filename. It will check this first, so you can swap out a file easily. If for some reason it can’t locate a file, then MegaSeg will give a missing file error, and allow you to manually find or remove the file.

What is the function of the “Intro Time” field in the Edit window?

Intro Time is used to display a count down timer to the start of the song’s vocal. It’s useful if you talk over the intro of a song (radio style) and keep track of how much time is left before the singing starts.

Is there a way to set a “cold” ending or segue on certain tracks?

Yes. Set the End Time (aka Segue Time) at the exact time of the cold ending. MegaSeg will start the next song at this exact time. MegaSeg’s fade-out of the previous song always starts after the next song starts, so it won’t cut off the cold ending song. (Settings a custom End Time also disables the AutoSeg Trim mode for that track.)

Can MegaSeg print the Library, Playlists, Logs, or Play History graphs?

Yes, MegaSeg has a Print command in the File menu that allows you to print either the currently selected Library, Playlist, Logs, or Play History windows. Just click to select the list and then choose Print from the File menu (or Command-P) and check the fields you want included in the list.

Alternatively, all saved Playlists are text files stored in the Playlists folder. You can print them using a text editor or spreadsheet like Excel or Apple’s Numbers and reformat as necessary. The Library can also be exported as a text file by using the ‘Export Library as Text’ menu command. The tabbed text file can open in a spreadsheet program, such as Numbers or Excel.

How is the database formatted?

The database is conveniently exported as a text file located in the MegaSeg data folder inside your Music folder. This makes it easy to “power edit” using a standard text editor if necessary. You can also export and import the Library as a tab delimited text file to edit using a spreadsheet such as Numbers or Excel using the File > Library Tools menu.

Does MegaSeg install any files into my system?

No, MegaSeg is completely self-contained and utilizes built-in OS X libraries and APIs such as Core Audio and QuickTime. In fact, the only files MegaSeg saves is for its Library, Playlists, Logs, etc. (within ~/Music/MegaSeg/).

How do I transfer MegaSeg to a new computer with the proper categories and info?

You can turn on File Sharing in the System Preferences, and copy files over the network (using an Ethernet cable if available is faster than WiFi). Another option is to use an external hard drive to transfer files, and while this method requires you to copy files twice (to and from the transfer drive) the external drive can then serve as a backup of your media.

A 3rd possible option (and the fastest) is connecting two Macs together via a FireWire cable (not all Macs have a FireWire port however). Once connected, simply restart one of the computers and hold down the “T” key until you see the FireWire symbol. This enables “FireWire Target Disk Mode” — A fancy way of saying that it turns the Mac into an external hard drive. You notice the Mac’s drive will mount as an external drive on your other computer, and you can copy your music and applications very quickly using this method.

To assist in the actual copying of files, you can use Apple’s “Migration Assistant” application to handle everything automatically. The Migration Assistant is located in the Applications folder inside the Utilities folder.

If you use the Migration Assistant, it will copy your home folder, including the Music folder (where MegaSeg stores its database, playlists, logs, and events), as well as your Applications, Documents, user accounts, settings, and other info such as emails.

If you decided to do things manually, you can just copy your music files and then copy the MegaSeg data folder found in the Music folder.

When you’re done, MegaSeg will start up with the same info. It should be able play everything without missing files as long as the media is in relatively the same location as it was on the old system (inside the Music folder for example). If that’s not the case, you may need to use MegaSeg’s Remove Folders command in the File menu to remove all the tracks and re‐import fresh. This should not cause the categories or segue times to reset, as all the metadata is stored in both the library and the files as a backup, specifically for a situation where you need to re‐import everything.

▸ Troubleshooting

After upgrading iTunes, my purchased music won’t play in MegaSeg. How do I solve this?

When you upgrade iTunes, you may need to de-authorize your computer and then re-authorize it using the commands found under the Store menu inside iTunes. Another thing to watch out for is having two or more accounts for some of your iTunes music. For example if you used a different iTunes account years ago to purchase some tracks, you may need to authorize that specific account too. You can check the exact account name used to purchase a track by selecting it in iTunes and then choose the “Get Info” command in the File menu (Command-I), and the account name will appear under the Summary tab. (Your Mac can be authorized for multiple accounts simultaneously, but each account can only authorize 5 computers at a time.)

Note that the iTunes Store no longer sells DRM copy‐protected tracks, and also uses a higher quality bit rate (known as “iTunes Plus” format). It’s possible to upgrade your older purchased music to DRM-free iTunes Plus format two ways. Using the new iCloud feature in iTunes you can see all your previous purchases and download fresh copies, which has been shown to render DRM-free versions as no cost. Or for a small yearly fee using the new iTunes Match service, Apple will replace your entire library with fresh DRM-free copies of everything in your library, including tracks you may have ripped from CD at lower quality (up to 25,000 tracks).

Tracks in my Library are linked to the wrong files. How do I clear my Library and reimport?

MegaSeg keeps track of files using Mac OS Alias technology. This means that even if a file is renamed or moved on the drive, MegaSeg will still be able to find and play it. However if you swap hard drives, or transfer your files to an external drive, it’s a rare possibility for it to get confused and cross‐link to random files if files move or get renamed on the new drive before MegaSeg gets a chance to re-index them at their new location. A simple solution is reimporting the files fresh. Note all your database info will remain intact, since MegaSeg tags each file with its custom metadata.

Here’s how to clear out your library and re‐import:

First it’s a good idea to backup your current database, just in case you want to revert back to it. Open MegaSeg’s Preferences, and click on the General tab. There note the path to the MegaSeg data folder. Typically this is ~/Music/MegaSeg/

Find that folder on your drive with the Finder. Select the folder, and select Duplicate from the File menu. This create a backup of your current library and playlists.

Return to MegaSeg, and select Remove Folders from the File menu. This shows a window with the names of all the hard drives that have files and folders imported into MegaSeg. Select the first hard drive listed, and press the Delete key on your keyboard. Continue to remove all hard drives listed until this list is empty. Note, this only tells MegaSeg to remove the files from MegaSeg library... It does not delete or trash the files and folders themselves.

You should now have an empty library. Select the Import button, and then the Options dialog on the lower right corner of the dialog. Make sure the Use MegaSeg Tags option is checked, and click OK.

Click the Import button, then the Import Folder button and navigate to your main music folder, and select that folder to import. MegaSeg should bring everything back into the library with all the proper info. Repeat this last step for any other media folders on other drives you may have.

You should now have a fresh re‐linked library. This will solve the problem of cross‐linked files or “Play Error -1”.

What is AutoSeg Trim? Why are tracks ending early?

MegaSeg’s “AutoSeg Trim” feature will subtract time from the end of a track that has not had a custom end time (aka “Segue Time”) set. The default Trim time is 7 seconds, which can be adjusted in the Playback tab in the preferences. The AutoSeg Trim feature is good to “catch” songs that have not been set to a specific (i.e. perfect) segue time. When a track has a Segue Time that is different (less than) the default length of the sound file, MegaSeg knows the track has a custom set end time and disables the AutoSeg Trim feature for the track.

Note, MegaSeg 3 and higher does not enable the AutoSeg Trim feature for tracks under 95 seconds in duration (for example commercials and jingles) to prevent cutting off those elements by default. Manually trim these tracks as needed using the End Time setting.

Why do mono files have no sound or play out of the wrong channel?

This is most likely an issue with how your audio output device is configured for surround sound channels. By default if you are using a sound output device that supports multiple channels, it may send mono tracks to the 3rd output connection it assumes is used for a 5.1 surround sound “center speaker”. This is very easy to change using Apple’s Audio MIDI Setup app, which allows you to define the speaker arrangement for any sound output device...

Open Audio MIDI Setup (found in your Applications > Utilities folder)

Click on the Audio Devices tab.

Select the output device you use for playback

Click the Configure Speakers button

Click on the Multichannel tab

In the pop‐up menu to the right, select “Quadraphonic” or other geometric configuration (depending on the number of stereo pairs on the device).

How do I solve a restart message that appears in several languages?

This restart message is known as a “Kernel Panic”, and generally means something went wrong deep within the OS or hardware. One common cause is a bad or failing RAM chip. If you installed additional RAM recently, it could be that it does not conform to Apple’s specs, or just a flaky module. Some brands may be temperamental in your model of Mac. If you have two RAM slots filled, try removing one and running for a while to see if the problem goes away. If not, swap the RAM chips and try using only the other one for a while to help narrow the problem down.

Another likely cause is the Mac OS X system file becoming corrupt on disk. This can be solved by reinstalling the OS from a Recovery Boot, the original discs, or sometimes just doing a system update (using Software Update in your Apple menu).

Finally a there could be a driver conflict for some 3rd party hardware you have added. If you’ve installed a piece of hardware that requires a driver of some sort, try uninstalling or downloading a newer version.

You can also try some of the troubleshooting options in our larger overall checklist, for example running Disk Utility’ Repair Permissions, Resetting the PRAM, and booting via Safe Boot.

Do you have a checklist to troubleshoot issues or improve system performance?

Yes, below is our checklist. There are various things that could affect performance or cause system issues, for example disk corruption, software and hardware conflicts, swap file fragmentation, or “run‐a‐way” processes. The good news is Macs rarely suffer from these issues. However if a problem does arise, here’s a list of things to troubleshoot:

Check Internal Drive Space

If your internal boot drive is running low on space, it can cause system performance issues. It is generally good to have at least 2 GBs free on your drive. To check, select your boot volume in the Finder (normally called Macintosh HD) and then choose Get Info from the File menu (or press Command–I). Under Get Info’s General section you should see the amount of available space left.

Keep Your MacBook Cool

If you notice problems start after a few hours of constant use, it may be an overheat issue with the internal drive or processor. This is especially possible if you have a 7200 RPM drive installed which runs hotter than typical 5400 RPM drives. Try propping up the laptop so there’s airflow underneath and a small fan to assist in cooling. You might also try a special laptop cooling pad.

Properly Vent External Drives

If you use an external hard drive, some models may overheat with continuous use, which may cause erratic behavior. Make sure your drive has adequate ventilation. One example is drives designed to sit upright like a book vs flat. Take care to ensure heat vents are positioned as intended.

Experiment with WiFi and Bluetooth Turned Off

Try turning the Mac’s WiFi (AirPort) off in the System Preferences under Network to help troubleshoot if the problem is network related. (If the problem goes away, see other network items below.) If you don’t require Bluetooth, you can also disable this in the System Preference’s Bluetooth icon. (You may want to at least disable the “Discoverable” option even if you use a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse that’s already paired.)

Be Wary Of Compact External Drives

Compact “pocket” external drives may also cause problems, which are not typically designed for constant audio/video playback. We recommend full-size (3.5" size) drives with dedicated power instead of compact bus‐powered pocket‐size drives.

Eject Optical Media

Make sure to eject any CD or DVD’s you may have in your optical drive, as sometimes the system may try to access the disc at random times and cause a delay as it waits for the drive to spin up. Most optical drives are slow to respond in these cases.

Use Recommend USB Ports (MacBooks only)

For external USB audio devices, do not use the right hand USB port on some MacBook models, because it is also connected to the same hub as the trackpad. It is best to use the left-side port for audio outputs and reserve the right-side port for other peripherals.

Uninstall Conflicting Backup Software

Mac OS X includes a great backup system called “Time Machine” that works with any external hard drive you buy. However some drive manufacturers, such as Western Digital (aka “WD”), include their own backup software (i.e. “Backup Anywhere”). We recommend uninstalling this and simply use Time Machine which is better designed to work with the Mac.

Power-cycle External Drives

If you have any external USB or FireWire devices connected, disconnect them and power‐cycle them if they are self‐powered to make sure they have a fresh restart. Then reboot the Mac and plug them back in.

Reset the PRAM

Sometimes the Mac’s Parameter RAM (PRAM) becomes corrupt or may cause sluggish behavior, especially after installing a system upgrade. If you notice scrolling or screen redraws seems slower, this may solve the problem. To Reset your PRAM, simply reboot your Mac and then when you hear the startup chime, press and hold down the Option, Command, P and R keys until you hear the startup chime a 2nd time. Note the PRAM will reset some of your System Preferences, such as display and video settings, screen refresh rate, screen resolution, number of colors, startup volume choice, and speaker volume.

Reset the SMC

The Mac’s System Management Controller (SMC) is responsible for many low-level functions and if you are experiencing unusual performance or video issues among other problems, it is recommend to try resetting the SMC. To do this, it requires different steps for various Mac models. Please refer to Apple’s SMC support article for more information.

Verify Disks and Repair Permissions

Run Apple’s Disk Utility app found in the Utilities folder inside your Application folder. This program can verify and repair your drive’s directory and data. If any of your drives need to be repaired due to disk corruption of some sort, it could be causing system slowdowns and dropouts. Disk Utility can repair a disk in two ways; One option is called “Repair Disk Permissions” which works on your internal startup (boot) drive and checks to make sure all applications and system files have the proper permissions to run correctly. The other option is to check the disks integrity by clicking the “Repair Disk” button on the right side, which will report or repair actual errors in the directory tree or files. You can only verify the startup drive. If you need to repair it, you can startup using the “Recovery mode” in OS X 10.7 or higher (by rebooting and holding down the Command plus R keys), then run Disk Utility from there. Or if on an older OS X version, boot from your Mac OS X install DVD and select Disk Utility from the menu. Use the “Verify Disk” button on all connected hard drives too ensure they are in good health, then click the Repair Disk button as necessary. If Disk Utility reports it can not repair a disk, the disk corruption level is beyond what Disk Utility can handle. We recommend using a stronger disk repair program called DiskWarrior in this situation.

Repair the ACL (access control list)

If you notice Disk Utility’s Repair Permissions is not doing a complete job, or lists several "ACL" errors each time, then you may need to kick it up a notch and repair the ACLs in your home directory using your Mac’s OS X installer or “Recovery” feature. In OS X 10.7 “Lion” and higher, Apple has a new Recovery boot feature. Just reboot and hold down Command-R to get a special Repair Utilities menu. From there click the Utilities menu up top, and choose Terminal. In the Terminal, type “resetpassword” and press Return. Instead of resetting your password, click the icon for your Mac’s hard drive at the top, and then in the popup menu below it, select your home folder account. Click the Reset button next to the “Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs” section below. This will only take a few minutes and should clear up all ACL related issues.

Run Periodic Tasks Via Terminal

There are special maintenance tasks which Mac OS X runs overnight to improve performance. If your computer is not awake at that time, the maintenance tasks may not run. However you can force these tasks to run manually via the Mac OS X Terminal utility (found in your Applications folder inside the Utilities sub‐folder).

When you run it and get a command prompt, enter the command:

sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

It will then ask you for your administration password once you enter the command. Then it will take several minutes for it to finish (possibly up to a half‐hour). There is no progress bar displayed when using Terminal, so you’ll just have to wait for the command prompt to appear again to know it’s done.

Eject Network Volumes

If you use a network volume, server, or “shared drive” try un-mounting the volume to see if it was contributing to system delays.

Disable MacBook’s Sudden Motion Sensor

When playing load music especially near a subwoofer, the vibrations may trigger the laptop’s Sudden Motion Sensor used to protect the hard drive in case it is dropped. The “SMS” can be disabled in these cases to prevent the vibrations from parking the hard drive and causing a delay. Apple has a support article describing the procedure.

Adjust Energy Saver Settings

Open your System Preferences, and click on the Energy Saver icon, and try unchecking the “Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible” option. Note in contrast we recommend you disable the “Keep All Drives Spinning” option under the General tab of MegaSeg’s preferences unless you use an external hard drive.

On some Macs there is a pop‐up menu called “Optimization” which you can try setting to “Better Performance”. On older systems under the Options tab, there is a preferences for “Processor Performance”, which you can try setting to “Highest”. (Note on laptops, using these settings will run down the battery faster.)

If your system does not have an “Optimization” or “Processor Performance” setting in the Energy Saver settings, you may still be able to change it using the command line (Terminal application). To do so, open Terminal (found in the Utilities folder), and enter “sudo pmset dps 0” at the prompt. It will ask for your administration password. When set it will simply show another prompt. You can now Quit Terminal.

Disable Unnecessary Sharing Services

In System Preferences click the Sharing icon. Under the Services tab, try turning off any services you do not absolutely need to be active. Sometimes these services will use extra processing power and can cause system delays depending on network status. Printer Sharing and Internet Sharing can be culprits, for example.

Quit All Dashboard Widgets

Some widgets use a lot of RAM and may even grow in size over time as they are open, which can cause system slowdowns. Others may constantly access the network which could cause a stall if the WiFi signal becomes weak or the network bandwidth degrades. Try closing all open Dashboard widgets by clicking the + button on the bottom left corner while your Dashboard is displayed, then click the X next to each open widget.

Trim and Optimize Your Fonts

Check your installed fonts to see if you have too many fonts enabled at once. This may cause your system to slow down. Apple’s Font Book application can be used to manage your fonts.

Check For Rogue Processes

Open the Activity Monitor application found in your Utilities folder, inside the Applications folder. Once open, make sure the pop‐up menu above shows “All Processes” (the default is set to “My Processes”). You can now see every process running on the system, including many hidden ones used by the Mac OS and the core UNIX OS. Click the “% CPU” column header until the list is sorted from highest to lowest processor usage. Note if you see any apps that are taking up too much processor time for too long. If you see a process that is using 80–100% of the processor, it could be a run‐a‐way process. An example of this would be a printer driver that is not compatibility with the OS version or has a bug. There was a case of this happening a few years ago to a certain brand of printer. Try “googling” the name of the process to find out more about what it is and if anyone else has reported the same problem. (Be sure to include “Mac” or “OS X” in the search.)

Remove Login Items

In the System Preferences, click Accounts. Select the account you use on the left column, then click Login Items from the tabs. Check to see what apps (some may be invisible processes) you have checked to automatically launch when you startup. Some 3rd party software may install “Agent”, “Helper”, or “Daemon” software that runs in the background. One of these may be incompatible with your current OS version, or cause slowdown issues if your network connection degrades. You can test by selecting them and pressing the minus button (or Delete key) and restarting. Note the checkbox does not disable them, you must remove it from the list — The checkbox simply sets the app to be hidden. The only common item should be Apple’s “iTunes Helper” which launches iTunes when you connect an “iDevice”.

Check For Updates

Sometimes a fresh update and the system optimizations that are performed after installing can clear up an issue. Use the Mac’s Software Update command in the Apple menu to make sure you have the latest versions of OS X. Then make sure you have the latest version of MegaSeg installed by selecting the “Check For Updates” command in MegaSeg’s Help menu.

Format External Disks For Mac

We’ve had a recent report that using external drives formatted for Windows (PC‐DOS, FAT32, etc) may cause dropouts. We highly recommend you check your external drives to see if they are formatted for “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” (the default Mac-native format). Although the Mac is capable of using a drive formatted for Windows FAT-32 or NTFS, it is better to use the native Mac OS X format. Select the drive in the Finder (either on the desktop or within the Finder window), and press Command–I or select Get Info from the File menu. The info window will display the format. If it is formatted for PC you should consider reformatting it using Disk Utility (in the Application/Utilities folder.) This of course will erase the disk, which means you’ll need to backup the data first and then restore it after formatting.

Check For Excessive Console Errors

The Mac logs errors that happen in a “system.log” file you can easily inspect with the Console utility. Startup the Console inside the Applications/Utilites/ folder and it will show the most recent activity. It may be cryptic, and most of what is listed is not a problem. What you should look for is an error or something that repeats over and over (every 10 seconds for example), or possibly something that appears during the problem in question. You can then search online for info about what is displayed.

Trash Preferences

While not usually necessary, you may want to try trashing the MegaSeg Preferences file. Note this will reset some of MegaSeg’s settings. It will not remove your library, playlists, logs, or events. Here’s a list of paths to MegaSeg Preference files (depending on the version):

Note: If you have OS X Lion 10.7+, your Library folder is hidden by default. You can get to it by holding down the Option key while selecting the “Go” menu in the Finder.

Startup in Safe Mode

There’s a special startup mode called “Safe Boot” which performs several tasks such as checking for directory damage and disabling system extensions for diagnosis purposes. This may help you pinpoint a possible conflict or low-level system issue. Please read Apple’s support document on how to safe boot your Mac. Be sure to reboot in normal mode after experimenting with Safe Mode, as it disables many system features (such as hardware accelerated graphics.)

Cold Boot The System

Finally, shutdown your Mac completely (not just a Restart). This will clear the RAM and allow swap files to reset. Sometimes a fresh start is all it takes after the computer may have been running for weeks or months and only going to sleep between each use.